What is the difference between T-Ball, Junior Coach Pitch and Coach Pitch?

Answer:  In an effort to create teams with competitive balance, Coach Pitch is only for those children ages 7 and 8.  Only in very rare circumstances will six year old children be allowed to play in the Coach Pitch league (generally if the dad is the head coach and has an older sibling playing, or if your last name is Mantle, Ruth, Clemente or Koufax).  Junior Coach Pitch is for six year olds with some experience and have graduated from T-ball and are ready for the next step.  Any exceptions must be approved by the GBL Board of Directors.  These divisions are based more on maturity than skill level.  T-ball is for beginners and those too young for the other leagues.  Children must be 4 years old by April 30, 2018 to play in the T-ball league.

Why can't all my child's friends be on the same team? 

Answer:  We would love to say all adults behave fairly, but they do not.  In the past, coaches would stack teams with carpool requests, long lost cousins, and a myriad of other reasons why certain kids had to play together on the same team.  As it turned out, these ended up being the best kids in the league.  In order to eliminate that posturing, for Coach Pitch age and above, we currently allow only the coach's kid and the assistant coach's kid to be "protected" and placed on a team.  Those two children have been evaluated, as historically they tend to be good ballplayers.  We then go through the list of really great players, and start placing those children, then we go through the list of beginners, and place them on teams, and then we put the rest on teams.  We find this tends to balance out teams with a few great players, a few beginners, and the rest right down the middle.  But luck of the draw still comes into play despite our best efforts.  Most requests are met, but they are all reviewed by the GBL Board and the League Director.
 

As a coach do I have ANY input into my team make-up? 

Answer:  Again, at the Coach Pitch and above levels, not really.  You can however conduct TWO trades at the Coach's meeting so if you are a coach, you really should attend.

My child is incredible at baseball, probably the best ever.  Why can't he "play up?"

Answer:  We prohibit children from playing at a level they are not age-eligible for.   In fact, the signup program we use, BlueSombrero, will not allow it.   Except in cases where brothers need to be together, we generally do not allow players to play up.  If your child is in fact that good, we should talk as we would like to sign him to a long term contract and become his sports agent - the pay is much better than being a GBL Board Member.

What is the age cutoff?

Answer: The age cutoff date is April 30, 2018.